An essential requirement of known tumble dryers is that opening of the loading door leads to interruption of the drying process during a running treatment process. This is conventionally achieved by a door contact switch which in known tumble dryers is actuated by a mechanical operating pin. This door contact switch is generally secured in the housing of the tumble dryer, close to the door edge.
Tumble dryer designs are also known in which a mechanically actuatable key button is operated by a lever.
One drawback of the known tumble dryer designs lies in the fact that relatively complex assembly of the door contact switch is necessary. This results in additional manufacturing times and assembly costs.
A door lock component is known from DE 77 37 992 U1. This is designed to lock the door of a domestic appliance, which must not be opened during operation, for example of a washing machine, for the given time against inadmissible opening. A switching device and an assembly for detecting different positions of a door element is known from DE 103 55 603 A1, it being possible to use the switching device and assembly in domestic appliances such as fridges and cooking appliances.